Over the years, several different technologies have been developed for storing electrical energy generated by renewable energy sources, such as lithium ion batteries, ultra capacitors, and flywheels. One technology is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,873,235 which describes a levitated ring energy storage device for storing electrical energy generated by a renewable energy source. The energy storage ring described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,873,235 is levitated by a magnetic shear force derived from Haibach arrays of permanent magnets bonded to the inner periphery of the rotating ring which couple to similar Haibach arrays of permanent magnets bonded to the outer periphery of a stationary, concentric cylindrical support structure, separated from the rotating ring by a small gap. A limitation of the levitated ring energy storage device described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,873,235 is that the magnetic levitation shear force, provided by permanent magnets, is uncontrollable and cannot be turned off. Once the levitated ring energy storage device has been assembled, very large externally applied forces are necessary to separate the energy storage ring from the surrounding stationary cylindrical support structure, which makes repairing and maintaining of the levitated ring energy storage device very difficult.